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At the end of this week’s Torah portion of Vayeishev, Yosef finds himself in jail with the chamberlain of butchers and the chamberlain of drinks, and they each had dreams which Yosef interpreted.
The medrish, Breishis Rabba (88:4) says, “‘And He placed them in the ward… the chamberlain of butchers appointed etc. [Yosef to be with them] the two of them dreamt a dream etc. [Each one according to the interpretation of his dream’ (Breishis 40:3-5). Rebbe Chiya bar Abba said each one dreamed a dream of his own as well as the interpretation of his companion’s dream. ‘Yosef came to them etc. They said to him, we dreamt a dream etc. [So, Yosef said to them,] Don’t interpretations belong to G-D’ (Breishis 40:6-8)? Yosef attributed the greatness to its rightful holder.” The Yefeh Toar explains what it means that Yosef attributed the greatness to its rightful holder, “You shouldn’t interpret this to mean [that Yosef was saying] G-D will interpret the dream, because if that was the case then what would have been the point in him listening to their dreams rather what he meant is that Hashem gave him the wisdom to interpret them, and that’s how he attributed greatness to its rightful holder.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The medrish is saying that Yosef was giving a lesson to the chamberlains of belief in Hashem. That ultimately He’s the one that provides the dreams, and the solution and interpretation of the dreams is also from Hashem. However, the Yefeh Toar points out that Yosef wasn’t telling them that Hashem would directly tell them their interpretations; rather, Hashem would give Yosef the wisdom to interpret their dreams.
What exactly is going on? The medrish in fact said that each one of them dreamt the other’s interpretation and they either misunderstood or wanted to double check. Either way, Hashem had in fact already given the interpretations; and if Yosef meant that they would remember and recognize the interpretations as things played out with them, who says that was in fact true? They might have totally missed Hashem’s message! It is also a highly unlikely possibility that Hashem would actually speak to these Egyptians directly. So one would think that it is obvious that Yosef was Hashem’s messenger to interpret the dreams, and that is in fact all Yosef might have meant, that Hashem will tell you the interpretations. So what does the Yefeh Toar mean when he says that Yosef wasn’t telling them that G-D would give them the solutions, for by telling them through Yosef Hashem actually did do so? That’s how Hashem works most of the time; He runs every aspect of the world by Himself but through the use of messengers. Be it nature, be it human beings, angels, wildlife etc., in order to get things done in a more discreet and modest fashion. This is in order to ensure free choice for human beings, and it’s also basic honor and respect for a king, especially The King Of All Kings, for existence to run in this fashion. If so, then isn’t it obvious and really the same thing if Yosef would have told them that Hashem would provide the interpretations to their dreams instead of attributing Hashem with giving him the knowledge to interpret their dreams?
The Yefeh Toar must therefore be teaching us how to strengthen our emuna and bitachon, belief and trust in Hashem. We shouldn’t just attribute everything to Hashem in a generalized manner, but we should pinpoint our recognition of Hashem’s “hands” in our lives. As the Yefeh Toar points out, that Yosef told them that it wass because Hashem granted him wisdom to interpret the dreams, and that is why He should be credited; not just because all interpretations come from Hashem. By pinpointing and specifying in as much detail as possible, we can then fully acknowledge and strengthen our relationship with Hashem, His existence and our trust in Him.
Good Shabbos and Happy Chanukah starting Sunday night,
Rabbi Dovid Shmuel Milder
P.S. An interesting tidbit: In the Haftorah this week we read “אם יתקע שופר בעיר” and
we only read this in years when we blow shofar on both days of Rosh Hashana. When Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbos, then parshas Vayeishev is on Chanukah.